ARASH DASHTGARD is a Senior Managing Associate in the UK/EU Financial Services Regulatory group. Arash advises a broad range of financial institutions and market participants, including banks, broker-dealers, and asset managers, on UK and EU financial services regulatory matters. His main areas of focus includes advising on:
- General UK and EU financial services regulation, including MiFID, AIFMD, the UCITS Directive, the Market Abuse Regulation, the PRIIPs Regulation, EMIR, SFTR, SRD, the Short Selling Regulation, and the Transparency Directive.
- Prudential regulation, including the UK Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) and the Investment Firms Prudential Regime (IFPR).
- Regulatory authorisation and all aspects of the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) rules, including the UK Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR), the Consumer Duty, FCA rules on client money and assets, governance, systems and controls, conduct of business, and reporting.
- The regulatory framework for sustainable finance/ESG in the UK and EU, including the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), the EU Taxonomy Regulation, the UK Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR), and investment labels and the UK TCFD-aligned climate reporting requirements.
- The regulatory framework for digital assets in the UK and EU, including the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
- Regulatory aspects of structured finance and capital markets transactions, including the regulatory frameworks for securitisation in the UK and EU
- Regulatory aspects of corporate, financing, and restructuring transactions involving financial institutions.
Prior to joining Sidley, Arash was seconded to the asset management division of a global investment bank, where he advised on matters including the UCITS Directive and the implementation of the ESG regulatory frameworks in the UK and EU.